One more mystery to solve, but in any case, I was supposed to attend the "Scarlet Rose Ball".
The royal ball I longed for when I was little!
I never thought the day would come when I, a commoner, would be able to get out!
What kind of place is that?
Maybe I'll fall in love at first sight with a prince of some country, just like in a fairy tale.
As I was loosening my cheeks in fantasy, I suddenly realized a problem.
"Huh? But when you go to a ball of the very upper class like that, don't you have to be able to behave and dance?
Of course. Of course.
But I don't know anything about manners or dancing.
I said, and Luke smiled at me and said, "Let's practice.
Let's practice.
Then began the training for the ball by Luke's teacher.
First up was a test to see if I had the current strength.
Luke sighed as I scored a devastating score on the common sense test of ball etiquette.
'I figured it would be something like this,'
"I can't help it! And no one will tell you this in the world of the people.
This is about as far as I've learned in college.
"...... I see.
When I look away, Luke chuckles and says, "You can't really do anything you're not interested in, can you, Noel?
You can't really do anything that doesn't interest you, Noel. I'm sure the teachers in the academy would be appalled at the general education courses that don't involve magic.
I've been working hard on it privately. But I just can't seem to get interested in it, can I?
And yet, when it comes to magic, you get just as good a score as I did when I was a child prodigy.
"Ehehe, more compliments.
I do not praise you. Let's study hard, Mr. Noel.
"...... yes
I wrote and read and repeated the process to get it into my head.
It was hard to learn something I wasn't interested in, but when I did it, I realized I could work much harder than I did when I was at the Academy.
Maybe it's because I was working hard at the Mage Guild, even the things I didn't like or wasn't good at.
If you persevere and repeat, you'll be able to do them before you know it.
So don't give up if you can't do it.
I know that now.
I don't know what's good for you, life.
And Luke was still good at teaching.
Whenever I made a mistake, he was always willing to help me.
I can't help but smile, thinking that he hasn't changed.
I was able to manage my knowledge like that, but the problem was the dance.
...... What's that move like a fish washed up on land?
"Huh? In my opinion, it's the most elegant and brilliant dance form.
"Let's do it in front of the mirror.
Oh dear, what are you talking about, Mr. Luke.
I was so shocked to see my own image in front of the big mirror that I was speechless, saying that I can dance perfectly.
It's not ...... that's not me. ......
"Unfortunately you are.
Sighs Luke.
Oh no, I've always been a good athlete. I was undefeated in four-hundred fights in tree climbs and fights with bad boys.
I know. I'm glad to hear that this is a very typical episode for you.
"I used to go around beating up bullies and was called 'the worst girl in the west,'
You're a special kind of person, aren't you?
Luke shrugs his shoulders and says, "Oh dear.
'Isn't it more a matter of tone sense and artistic taste? Noel, you weren't good at that.
Ah.
I am hopelessly unable to do music or painting or singing or any of those kinds of art forms.
I'm not going to do things that I'm not interested in, because I don't want to do them.
I'm not going to do more of them because they're boring and I can't do them.
I don't do it more because I can't do it and it's boring. I've prepared myself to be able to dance at least as well as I can.
Thus began the battle of 'Luke, who is a great teacher, versus me, who has a hopeless sense of dance'.
Luke did his best, but I was so bad at it that I was disgusted with myself.
In the end, by the end of the day before the ball, my waltz was not at the level I was aiming for.
I'll stay and practice. I'll stay and practice, Luke can go home.
No, you have to go home too. You have to go back tomorrow. It's important not to be tired.
But you might get the steps wrong tomorrow.
Make a mistake. I'll follow you.
"I might make a mistake that I can't follow. I might embarrass you.
It's okay. Even if it's a big mistake, Noel and I have good memories.
"Come on, go home. Have dinner with your mother," and then he would send me home.
Luke has been treating me well at work, and I'm very grateful for that.
It's a completely different work environment than before, and I'm really grateful for that.
But at the same time I knew.
While Luke was gone, I looked at the dance instruction book he had brought with him.
I was curious about the steps, which I had hazy memory of.
But all that was blown away the moment I opened it.
A plethora of sticky notes.
Lots of sticky notes to teach me in an easy-to-understand manner.
He had worked hard to prepare them for me.
I didn't see him doing that at work or during his breaks.
That's probably why he prepared for me at home when he got home.
It's not like you did that much for me and I didn't do anything for you.
Where are you going?
After eating dinner, I say to my mom, who stops me.
'I'm going to go practice outside for a bit.'
In a corner of the city at night, I practice dancing.
It's a full moon tomorrow, so I'm expecting to see a beautiful moon, but the sky is covered with clouds.
On a moonless night, I will practice the steps by myself.
Please, tomorrow, I hope I can dance a waltz to match Luke's efforts.